Innovation

2014-09-09

TeliaSonera's Swedish subsidiary, Telia, has launched a healthcare solution to facilitate care at home. The Region of Västerbotten in the northern part of Sweden will be piloting the new solution.In Sweden, like in many other countries, the elderly population is growing with increasing costs for society and the health sector as a consequence. Ever since the birth of the concept of eHealth in the 1990ies, IT and telecommunications have been seen as key remedies, not only to reduce costs but also to improve care and bring it closer to the patient.

Telia is now stepping up to the challenge and launches Telia Healthcare, a communications solution which will make care more efficient and bring patients and health care providers even closer.

- Our vision is to improve quality of life with the help of technology. This also creates more care for less money, to benefit of both pepole and society, says Niklas Sundler, Head of Telia Healthcare.

At the very heart of Telia's concept is the Home Care solution. It's essentially a small box which communicates wirelessly with sensors between the home and the care provider. This means that an individual can be remotely assisted with e.g. blood samples and ECG-monitoring, track health status and share health information in case of illness. Home Care can also be used for safety measures such as to see if an iron has been unplugged or if a person has fallen on the floor.

The Västerbotten pilotTelia and the Region of Västerbotten is now preparing a pilot with 100-200 care takers.

- The safety aspect is critical. Our ambition is to use technology for the elderly and individuals with impared physical or psychological capabilities in order for them to feel safe and have access to services that are needed to lead a good life at home, says Anna Lassinantti, deputy Head of Region Västerbotten.

The objective is to provide digital solutions customized to care takers' individual needs. This also means that family, relatives and kin will be more involved and can assist in caretaking in new and easier ways.

To care staff, Telia's solution means less devices and that telephones, tablets, computer, information and care systems will be integrated and interoperable.